Greenco Burundi Newsletter May 2019 (PDF)

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End of season in sight!
The countdown has begun! May has passed by and the coffee season is
already in its last weeks. The sun´s up again at the one thousand and
one hills country and that means that a last effort is necessary to finish
the harvest in style!

Harvest, what's up?
Our FW and Naturals coffees are getting ready to leave their rest and
start their journey to the dry mill. Meanwhile, our honey processed coffee
is also chilling out under the sun getting the perfect moisture levels for
your cup. On the other hand, this year we are experimenting once again
with yeast fermentation, with a far from easy objective: to surpass last
year's excellent result. Even if the volumes in Burundi are not as high as
last year´s due to cyclicity and poor rains, we are ready to fight to the very
last cherry so that Burundian coffee continues to reach every corner of
the globe!

Goats and pigs all over the place!

The Goat Project is back! A new edition has been possible thanks to the
support of the Kahawatu Foundation and the following roasters: Amavida,
Kickapoo, Joe Coffee, Red Rooster, Intelligentsia, Jittery Joe´s, Onda
Origins and Counter Culture. This time, we have distributed 156 goats in
Nemba, Kibingo, Masha & Gakenke CWSs and 83 pigs in Yandaro CWS!

The project responds to the needs of our farmers to obtain organic
fertilizer for their plantations in order to increase the yield of their coffee
production. Aiming at creating the biggest impact possible, the project
implements a solidarity chain by which the beneficiary farmers deliver the
next generation of goats to the rest of the community. In just three words:
hope through coffee!

Such a big event was covered by local newspapers. If you click here, you
can find the article online (in French) with further details!

CoE announcement
















We would like to share with you a very tough decision we have taken
recently: we are not going to participate in this year´s edition of the Cup
of Excellence.
After much thought, we believe that this is the right decision for several
reasons. In the first place, because due to the extremely low volume of
coffee we are witnessing this year in Burundi, submitting our coffee to the
Cup of Excellence inevitably means not being able to meet the demands
of our clients. At Greenco, the clients always come first, and we should
not forget that even when such complicated dilemmas arise. And
secondly, we also believe that having dominated the competition every
year since our inception, it is time to pass the baton to other producers
present in the country so that they can also make themselves known
internationally and thus improve the image of Burundi coffee as a whole.
In any case, we will of course promote the event as we always do and
we will also support the organization in all ways required.

From the world to Burundi...

May started with a very special visit from Greenco owner, Mr François
Bercher. Although François comes frequently and is difficult to impress,
we believe he was able to see with his own eyes all the efforts we are
making to consolidate ourselves as the leading producers of specialty
coffee in Burundi and one of the best in East Africa. Otherwise, if you
don't receive this newsletter next month you already know the reason...




Our Dutch friends from Brinks Coffee have spent a couple of days with
us in Burundi. Why such a long trip? "The best way to sell Greenco's
coffee was to come and see with our own eyes how it is produced and
the impact that is created in the farming community. Now we can say
with certainty that we know the reality behind this coffee and we can
share it with our customers". As it was their first time in Burundi, we´ve
had the chance of showing them the way we process coffee from the
tree to the dry mill but also all the incredible places this small country
has to offer. We hope you'll come back soon!













A couple of weeks ago we also received a visit of Thompson Owen from
Sweet Maria´s. With more than 20 years in the specialty coffee business
and several trips to Burundi under his belt, our friend Tom from Sweet
Maria´s is a living encyclopedia of coffee. Although every year we try to
surprise him with something new, the truth is that Tom's visits always end
in the same way: you learn a lot more than you can teach him. Thanks
for the free classes, Tom!





























Last but not least, we wanted to share with you that we have been lucky
enough to randomly meet François Loncke, a Belgian who started cycling
in Australia two years ago and has made it to Burundi! After stopping in
our house to rest a bit, share a few good stories and a couple of coffees
to gather strength for the road, François continues with his adventure,
which you can follow via @francis_bike_on on Instagram.

And from Burundi to the world!
We are happy to announce that the sample shipment period has officially
started: our first samples from 2019 are ready! Travelling throughout the
world, we hope that our coffee will spread joy and happiness among the
seven seas.
If you are interested in receiving more information about our sampling
availability click on the button below!
Contact us / Sample me up

Carlos' Words
As the end of harvest approaches, it is important to maintain motivation
to finish the season in the best possible way. What starts well ends well!
In a low volume year like this, every detail counts and at Greenco we are
aware that we can´t lower the bar. The solution is simple: the smaller the
quantity, the higher the quality!
In recent weeks we have been fortunate enough to receive several visits
from different parts of the globe, and more visitors will keep coming in the
coming weeks. At Greenco, it's something we're very excited about and
that's why we try to make sure that our visitors have the best possible
experience and get to know what's behind the coffee they're buying. But
besides, we also try to show them all the wonders that Burundi hides:
when you have a treasure you have to share it!
This June, in addition to the above, we have several challenges ahead of
us: farmers´ payment, samples shipment, beginning of the milling, new
sustainability projects... Stay tuned to know more, we'll be back in a few
weeks!




< Signature Carlos Bobillo Barbeito ” > < “ signatureCBB >

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Greenco S.U · 33 Route Ngozi-Gitega · Ngozi · Burundi